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Report: UFC Rankings Will Not Determine Reebok Sponsorship Payouts

Since the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Reebok unveiled their uniform deal, several fighters have questioned whether the revenue sharing should be tied to the rankings, and it looks like their concerns have been noticed.

Back in December, the UFC announced that it had teamed up with Reebok, and that the clothing apparel giant would be producing tailored uniforms for the fighters. How much money a fighter would make from the deal, however, was going to depend on how much of their clothing sold, and where they were ranked.

Well, according to a follow up report from The Sports Business Journal, the UFC has decided to change the compensation model, so that instead of a fighter’s ranking, it will be tied to their tenure. The story states:

The new system places combatants into tiers of 1-5 fights, 6-10 fights, 11-15 fights, 16-20 fights and more than 21 fights. The only exception applies to title fights, as both title challengers and reigning champions will receive greater compensation. The UFC declined to share specific dollar figures for each class.

In the preceding months there was widespread concern that veteran fighters, who aren’t ranked in the top 15, would not be properly compensated. The argument was made that some of these fighters could have larger fan bases than ranked fighters. In addition, the rankings are determined by a panel of media members, and therefore, opinion and subjectivity play a crucial role.

The uniforms and the compensation tied to them, are expected to be unveiled in July.